The Union Public Service Fee (UPSC) has moved an utility within the Delhi Excessive Court docket looking for initiation of perjury proceedings towards former probationary Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Puja Khedkar for allegedly mendacity in court docket and making false statements in affidavits filed within the court docket.
The Delhi Excessive Court docket on Thursday heard the plea and issued discover to Khedkar and sought her response to the identical. A bench of Justice Jyoti Singh directed Puja Khedkar file her response inside three weeks. The excessive court docket has listed the matter for additional listening to on November 26.
The UPSC has filed an utility within the excessive court docket stating that it had despatched the July 31 discover (cancelling Khedkar’s candidature) on her registered Electronic mail Id the identical day.
In keeping with UPSC, that they had despatched the mail on e mail adress talked about in her on-line utility for the Civil Service Program (CSP) 2022.
Khedkar had informed the court docket that she has not been served with the order and he or she got here to know of it solely by way of the press launch issued by the UPSC.
Senior advocate Naresh Kaushik, showing for the UPSC, informed the excessive court docket that Khedkar gave false info to her attorneys and he or she very effectively knew that she was making a false assertion on oath.
The Delhi Excessive Court docket is presently listening to Khedkar’s anticipatory bail plea. The excessive court docket had earlier granted interim safety from arrest to Khedkar. Khedkar has been accused of dishonest and wrongly availing OBC and incapacity quota advantages to clear the Union Public Service Fee (UPSC) Civil Providers Examination, 2022.
Each the UPSC and the Delhi Police have sought dismissal of her plea for pre-arrest bail and had argued that her arrest was important to seek out others who may need aided her within the “fraud.”
Khedkar on different hand has submitted in court docket that she has neither misrepresented nor cheated within the strategy of efficiently clearing the Civil Providers Examination-2022. She additional informed the excessive court docket that the UPSC has no energy to disqualify her candidature.
She contends that her choice was on the idea of benefit within the class of Individuals with Benchmark Incapacity (PwBD), which she had tried fifth time underneath the class whereas the obtainable makes an attempt are 9 within the stated class.
The makes an attempt given previous to this from 2012 to 2017 was not underneath this class and can’t be combined as much as disentitle applicant as a disabled candidate, Khedkar submitted in court docket.
She additional argued that after her choice and appointment as a probationer, the UPSC ceased the ability to disqualify the candidature and solely DOPT can take motion towards her underneath the All India companies Act (1954) and the Probationer Guidelines.
She additional refuted UPSC’s declare and stated that she verified her id by way of biometric information collected in the course of the persona check and all paperwork have been additionally verified.
“There was no change within the applicant’s first identify and surname, from 2012 to 2022, as constantly mirrored in all DAFs (detailed utility varieties). The applicant has not manipulated or misrepresented her identify to UPSC.” her reply within the court docket stated.
If additional acknowledged that after Khedkar was advisable to DOPT, all needed verification was undertaken and he or she was medically examined by the Medical Board constituted by AIIMS as per DOPT which discovered her incapacity as much as 47 per cent (which is method past the requirement of 40 per cent for PwBD class.)
On August 12, the Excessive Court docket directed the Delhi Police to not arrest former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar until August 21, this keep was prolonged yet one more time.
Khedkar is accused of “misrepresenting and falsifying details” in her UPSC utility kind to make use of PwD and OBC quota. Khedkar had moved excessive court docket after a Delhi Court docket denied her anticipatory bail.
The Delhi court docket additionally requested investigation company to seek out out whether or not an insider from the UPSC helped her.
Accused of faking disabilty certificates and OBC certificates, Khedkar informed the Delhi court docket that she is being targetted as a result of she filed a sexual harassment case towards a Collector.